Locking mechanism for tubular lock



May 29, 1956 A. H. GOLDEN ET AL LOCKING MECHANISM! FOR TUBULAR LOCK 4Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 14, 1952 A-H-Ga 8 ON ow 2 y 9, 1956 A. H.GOLDEN ET AL LOCKING MECHANISM FOR TUBULAR LOCK 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledOct. 14, 1952 INVENTORJ 14.14.60 Ideu, RP. numb and fiM 'c AMl'd ATTORNEY y 29, 1956 A. H. GOLDEN ET AL 2,747,907

LOCKING MECHANISM FOR TUBULAR LOCK Filed 001;. 14, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 5VENTOR-S AH-G'odepl, RRIFMLIT BY 1.; raw. JCAMCJ ATTORNEY rial/ all? A lI I III IIIIIIIIII May 29, 1956 A. H. GOLDEN ET AL 2,747,907

LOCKING MECHANISM FOR TUBULAR LOCK Filed Oct. 14, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 4ATTCIJRNEY tion when the door slams.

2,747,907 LOCKING MECHANISM non TUBULAR LocK Abraham H. Golden andRaymond W. Schmid, Stamford, Conn, and Paul P. Kuhik, Bronx, N. Y.,assignors to The Yme & Towne Manufacturing Company, Stamford, Conn., acorporation of Connecticut Application October 14, 1952, Serial No.314,644 7 Claims. (Cl. 292-169) This invention relates to tubular locks.More particularly, our invention relates to tubular locks of the classin which a push piece moves to a locking position and is held in thatposition by a dog, the dog being in turn preferably mounted on a boltretractor. We have now developed, in a lock of this class, an extremelynovel push piece and dog construction that does not yield to release thelock when the lock is subjected to vibration. Further, by our novelconstruction we prevent the lock from being locked unintentionally bythe movement of the push piece relatively to the dog upon the slammingof the door in which the lock is mounted.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the push piecein locks of the particular class moves between locking and unlockingpositions in a direction that is at right angles to the door, a springalways pressing it to its unlocking position. When the push piece ismoved to locking position, it is then dogged thereafter by the dog inthis locking position, the dog accepting the thrust of the spring thatpresses the push piece toward unlocking position at all times. The dogmoves with the retractor as the retractor moves to retract the bolt, andthis carries the dog out of dogging relation to the push piece, therebyallowing the push piece to move to unlocking position. Spring means holdthe dog yieldingly against the reactor, and as the push piece is pushedmanually inwardly toward locking position the dog is first cammed by thepush piece relatively to the retractor against the pressure of saidspring means. Thereafter, the dog is released by the push piece andmoves to dog the push piece in locking position.

Prior art locks of this class cannot be relied upon to remain in lockedcondition when subjected to vibration because the dog is readilyvibrated relatively to the retractor and push piece to release the pushpiece for movement by its spring to unlocking position. Also, locks ofthis class have a tendency to lock inadvertently because the push pieceby its momentum is thrown to locking position when the door slams,simulating the action of a manually inward push. The spring that holdsthe push piece in unlocking position does, of course, tend to preventinadvertent locking, but there is a practical limit to the strength ofthis spring because a spring that is strong enough to prevent accidentallocking also makes the push piece diflicult to operate, and in additionfacilitates the release of the push piece from the dog when the lockvibrates. It is not desirable to strengthen the spring holding the dogbecause this yields a hard action.

In other locks of this class, the dog is not cammed by the push piece asthe push piece moves to locking position. Instead, the dog enters intodogging relation with the push piece merely by entering notches in thepush piece as the push piece moves to locking position. In locks of thisclass, the dog cannot be vibrated to release the push piece. However,the push piece can, in these structures, be moved easily by its momentumto locking posi- To prevent this, a momentum piece is provided, thismomentum piece moving inwardly nited States Patent with the push piecewhen the door slams and blocking the dog against moving into doggingrelation to the push piece.

We shall now described the novel features of our invention whereby,through the inherent construction and mounting of our push piece anddog, we contribute a lock in which the push piece can While camming thedog, cannot be moved to locked position by slamming of the door.Thereby, we omit the need for a momentum piece. At the same time, ourdog cannot be vibrated to release the push piece. Because of this, wecontribute all the advantages of each of the two types of prior artmechanisms we have described above, while omitting the undesirablefeatures thereof.

As one very important feature of our invention, we so mount the dog uponthe bolt retractor as to prevent the dog from shifting or moving in arelease direction relatively to the push piece when the lock is vibratedas by rapping upon the door. By our arrangement, the bolt retractorsupports the dog in dogging relation to the push piece when the lockvibrates.

In the preferred form of our invention, the dog is provided with what weterm a base, and this base is held seated in a transverse position uponthe bolt retractor by the springs that press the retractor to a positioncorresponding to the projected position of the latchbolt. As is usual inlocks of this class, the push piece moves transversely to the retractorand is pressed outwardly toward unlocking position by a spring. When thepush piece is pressed inwardly to locking position against the force ofthis spring, a detent portion that we form upon the dog accepts theoutward spring thrust of the push piece and holds the push piece inlocking position. In our invention, we provide upon the retractor asurface that in turn accepts this thrust directly from the detentportion of the dog.

We prefer to mount the dog in a pocket in the retractor, and we so formthe detent portion as to extend angularly from the base of the dog intoa position in which it is juxtaposed to an inner surface of the pocket.This inner surface then supports the detent portion against the forcesapplied to it whenit is in dogging relation to the push piece. As afurther feature of this part of the invention, the edges of the base ofthe dog are juxtaposed to the inner surfaces of the retractor so as toprevent the dog from shifting transversely of the retractor. One ofthese edges coacts with the detent portion to provide the end of the dogwith a relatively extensive lateral base, and this arrangement preventsthe dog from tilting out of dogging relation to the push piece when thelock vibrates.

As a further feature of our invention, we utilize the spring thrust ofthe push piece for holding the dog in dogging relation to the pushpiece. In other words, the push piece must be moved by the dog beyondits locking position against the pressure of its spring, in order to bereleased from the dog. We accomplish this by forming, upon either thepush piece or the dog, an inclined cam surface that cams the detentportion against the push piece. The inclination of this cam surface issuch that the dog in moving away from the push piece to release the pushpiece effects inward movement of the push piece beyond locking positionbefore it is released from locking position. This inward movement of thepush piece is resisted by the push piece spring so that this springtherefore resists any disengagement of the dog from the push piece.However, because the retractor springs also press the dog to doggingposition, all of these springs therefore coact to prevent releasemovement of the dog. Moreover, we so arrange the detent portion on thedog as to enable the push piece actually to oppose tilting of the dog.This we do by forming the detent portion at that side of the dog that isopposed to the side seated on the retractor. Thereby, the spring thrustof the push piece when acting against the detent does not tend to tiltthe dog, but acts together with the retractor springs to rotate the dogmore firmly against its seat. The particular arrangement not onlyopposes tilting of the dog, but requires that the push piece move stillfurther inwardly before it would be possible for the dog, by atheoretical tilting movement, to release the push piece.

As still another features of the invention, our novel construction isarranged to prevent the push piece from being dogged accidentally inlocking position. We for-m upon the push piece a surface that engagesthe detent portion of the dog as the push piece moves toward lockingposition. Preferably, this surface is formed upon a lug that carriesalso the inclined cam surface that cams the detent portion of the dogagainst the push piece. Through this arrangement the push piece whenmoving to locking position must move the dog against the pressure of theretractor springs. The push pin must move a very considerable distanceagainst the retractor spring pressure, because of the position of thedetent portion at its particular side of the dog. The retractor springstherefore coact very effectively with the push piece spring to preventaccidental dogging of the push piece.

We have thus outlined rather broadly the more important features of ourinvention in order that the detailed description thereof that followsmay be better understood, and in order that our contribution to the artmay be better appreciated. There are, of course additional features ofour invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form thesubject of the claims appended hereto. Those skilled in the art willappreciate that the conception on which our disclosure is based mayreadily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures forcarrying out the several purposes of our invention. It is important,therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalentconstructions as do not depart from the spirit and scope of ourinvention, in order to prevent the appropriation of our invention bythose skilled in the art.

Referring now to the drawings:

Fig. l is a sectional view taken on a vertical plane showing a preferredform of our novel lock; Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but taken ona horizontal plane; Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are partial views showing with Fig.2 the parts in successive stages of the locking and unlocking cycle;Figs. 6 and 7 are views on the correspondingly numbered lines in Figs.1, 4 and 5; Fig. 8 is similar to Figs. 6 and 7 but shows a retraction ofthe bolt retractor by the outer knob, and Fig. 9 is a view showing partsof the lock in exploded relation.

To appreciate fully the novel features of our invention in the formshown in the drawings, it is necessary first to realize that the boltretractor 10, the push piece 11, and the dog 12 do fulfil the usualfunction of corresponding parts in locks of the particular class. Thus,the bolt retractor is interlocked with the tail 13 of the bolt 14 andretracts this bolt in the latch tube 15 through a horizontal movement inthe plane of the door D in which the lock is mounted, as may be bestseen in Fig. 8. Yielding means that in our invention is in the form of apair of springs 16 returns the retractor 10 to a position correspondingto the projected position of the bolt 14. Inner and outer knobs 17, 18are fixed upon retractor tubes 19, 2t), and these tubes have at theirinner ends cams 21, 22 that impart retracting movement to the boltretractor 19. The outer retractor tube 29 is adapted to be locked in theusual way by the push piece 11, as will be described later in detail.

We have shown an arrangement that is quite usual in locks of this classwhereby the bolt 14 may be retracted by a key from the outside of thedoor when the outer tube is locked. In the particular form shown inFigs. 1 and 2, a relatively short retractor tube 23 is mounted withinthe outerretractor tube 20, and in the end 24 of the tube 23 is anoperating member 25 through-which this tube is rotated by a key plug 25mounted in the outer knob 18. As will be understood by those skilled inthe art, the key actuated retractor tube 23 acts through a cam portion27 on its inner end to move the bolt retractor lti, as shown in Figs. 5and 7.

The push piece 11 extends at one end through the inner knob 17 in theusual Way, and preferably is provided at this end with a push button2'8. Also, at its inner end the push piece 11 is pressed away fromlocking position by a coil spring 2?. Actually, as we have shown it, thespring 29 is engaged between the operating member 25 and a disc 30 thatsupports one end of the push piece 11.

For the purpose of disclosure, we have shown a pair of complementaryhousing parts 31, 32 that are assembled to form the spindle housing.Transverse plates 33, 34- guide the bolt retractor 10 for slidingmovement on fiat surfaces in this housing. Actually, the particulardetails of the spindle housing are not important to an understanding ofour invention, and it is merely neces sary to know that the spindlehousing supports the bolt retractor 10 and the retractor tubes 19, 20 inthe usual relation in locks of the particular class. We do prcfer,however, that the spindle housing should present four flat surfaces forguiding the bolt retractor 10 at its four sides, as may be clearly seenin Fig. 1.

It will be readily understood that the operation of the lock as we havethus far described it is rather conventional. We shall now describeparticularly the novel features through which we greatly improve thecontrol that is provided over the lock by the push piece 11.

In the rear end of the bolt retractor 1t and opening in the direction ofthe retracted movement, we form a relatively deep pocket 35, well shownin Fig. 9. At the inner end of this pocket is a vertical wall 36, andthe dog 12 is normally held seated against this wall by the retractorsprings 16. When dogging the push piece 11, as in Fig. 4, the dog 12remains seated in this position, but we do not rely solely upon theretractor springs 16 to hold the dog 12 in seated position, as willappear. The dog 12, best shown in Fig. 9, has What we term a base 37,this being the part of the dog that actually seats on the wall 36, andextending angularly relatively to this base is a detent portion 38through which the dog coacts with the push piece 11. The detent portion38 accepts the thrust of the spring 29 when clogging the push piece 11in locking position, as seen in Fig. 4. It is important to note that thedetent portion 38 is located on that side of the base 37 that faces awayfrom the end wall 36 of the retractor pocket 35, in a positionjuxtaposed to the side wall of this pocket. By this novel arrangement,the spring thrust of the push piece 11 is transferred through the detentportion 38 directly to this side wall and therefore to the retractorlit, and does not tend to tilt the dog 12 out of seated position on theinner wall 35. of the retractor. In fact, by the position of the detentportion on the dog, we enable the thrust of the push piece to press thedog to seated position, as will presently be explained.

We impart further stability to the dog 12 by so forming its base 37 thatvibration of the lock cannot tilt the dog out of dogging relation to thepush piece 11. Referring particularly to Fig. 4, it will be quiteapparent that the detent portion 38 of the dog 12, in moving out ofdogging relation to the push piece 11, must move in a direction towardthe open end of the pocket 35. Vibration of the lock may tend to movethe detent portion 38 in this way through tilting of the dog 12 in acounterclockwise direction accompanied by shifting of the base of thedog toward the push button end of the push piece 11. In our invention,we so form the edge 39 of the base of the dog 12 as to be juxtaposed tothe side Wall of the pocket 35, and this edge by engaging the side ofthe pocket prevents shifting of the dog and thereby prevents it fromtilting due to vibration such as would be caused by rapping upon thedoor. In the particuar form of dog that we illustrate, the detentportion 38 and the edge 39 of the base 37 together provide what is ineffect a relatively broad side on the dog 12, and this side by itsjuxtaposition to the side wall of the retractor pocket 35 enables thedog to withstand vibration without shifting its position. Also, theopposed edge 40 of the base 37 by engaging the opposed side wall of thepocket 35 prevents the detent portion 38 from shifting away from theside of the pocket.

We shall now describe more particularly the coaction of the push piece11 in our extremely novel construction. It will be observed first thatthe dog 12 when dogging the push piece 11 in locking position, as inFig. 4, acts through an inclined cam surface that tends to hold the dogin dogging position. We prefer to form this inclined cam surface uponthe push piece 11, as shown at 41, and this surface engages the detentportion 38 that we prefer to incline also. Because the detent portion 38accepts the thrust of the push piece spring 29 through the cam surface41, this spring coacts with the retractor springs 16 to hold the dog 12seated in dogging position upon the retractor. Actually, the cam surface41 requires that the push piece 11 undergo a small inward movementbeyond locking position, against the pressure of its spring 29 as apreliminary to its release from locking position. The push piece 11holds the dog 12 in dogging position not only through the camming actionthat is contributed by the particular cam surface 41, but also throughthe particular arrangement of the detent portion 33 on the dog. It willbe remembered that the detent portion 38 is at the side of the dogopposed to its seated side. Further, if we consider Fig. 4, we see thatthe spring thrust of the push piece 11 is toward the left. This springthrust therefore tends to rotate the dog 12 clockwise in Fig. 4.However, the dog 12 cannot rotate clockwise since it cannot shift in theretractor pocket, as has been explained. Actually therefore, the springthrust of push piece 11 presses the dog against seating surface 36 onthe bolt retractor. This arrangement very firmly opposes tilting of thedog 12 out of dogging position when the lock vibrates. The particularaction will be appreciated even further when it is realized that atilting movement of the dog 12, if we were to assume that the dog tilts,could not release the push piece 11 unless the push piece were to moveinwardly far beyond the position shown in Fig. 4, that being the lockingposition of the push piece. This is because we form the detent portion38 at that side of the dog opposed to the seated side. Thus, the dog 12cannot by tilting release the push piece 11 from looking position. Thisrelease can be accomplished only through a positive retracting movementof the bolt retractor and dog 12 from the position of Fig. 4 to theposition of Fig. 5.

As an important part of our invention, we form upon the push piece 11 alug 42 that coacts with the detent portion 38 at its particular side ofthe dog whereby to prevent accidental movement of the push piece tolocking position. Incidentally, we prefer to form the inclined camsurface 41 as one edge of the lug 42. As the push piece 11 is pressedfrom the unlocking position, shown in Fig. 2, toward the lockingposition, shown in Fig. 4, the lug 42 first engages the detent portion38. Because of the position of the detent portion 38 on the base 37, thelug 42 then tilts the dog 12 about its opposed edge 40, as shown in Fig.3. Moreover, the push piece moves inwardly a very considerable distancewith lug 42 against the dog before the lug passes by the detent portion38. Therefore, when the push piece moves to the locking position of Fig.4, a relatively large part of its movement is against the pressure ofretractor springs 16, as well as against the push piece spring 29. Wepre fer to incline the surfaces through which the lug 42 engages thedetent portion 38 as the push piece 11 moves to locking position, thisbeing done to facilitate the tilting of the dog. In any event the partsdescribed prevent accidental locking movement of the push piece 11 whenthe door slams, and we do not rely entirely upon the push piece spring29 for this purpose, as in prior art constructions.

To enable the push piece 11 to coact with the detent portion 38 of thedog, we arrange the push piece to extend through the base 37 of the dog.To accomplish this, we form the retractor 10 with a transverse slot 43extending through the vertical wall 36 and the side walls of the pocket35, as may best be seen in Fig. 9. Also, We form in the dog 12 atransverse slot 44 that extends through the base 37 but not through thedetent portion 38. The slots 43 and 44 permit the push piece 11 to movefreely, and the push piece by its position in these slots does notinterfere in any way with the desired move ments of the bolt retractor10 and the dog 12. The retractor springs 16 do of course press the base37 of the dog symmetrically at opposed sides of the slot 44.

We prefer to form upon the push piece 11 a stop lug 45 that engages aninner side wall of the pocket 35 of the retractor 10 so as to define theunlocking position of the push piece 11, as shown in Fig. 2. This stoplug 45 accepts the thrust of the spring 29 when the push piece is inunlocking position so that this spring thrust is not then accepted bythe detent portion 38 of the dog. The actual locking of the outerretractor tube 20 is accomplished by push piece 11 in the usual way, andwill be well understood by those acquainted with the art. Thus, a part46 on the push piece when in locking position enters a slot 47 in theretractor tube 20, as shown in Fig. 4, and prevents rotation of theouter knob 18. We do prefer however to utilize the transverse wall 34for guiding and holding the locking part 46, and for this purpose, weform the plate 34 with a groove 48.

The bolt retractor 10 in our novel construction lends itself readily toone-piece sheet metal construction, as is clearly shown in Fig. 9,although this particular construction is not essential to our invention.We prefer to make the bolt retractor 10 rectangular in section so as toslide in the spindle housing between the rectangularly disposed parts31, 32 and the transverse plates 33, 34. The retractor pocket 35 then isrectangular, and the base 37 of the dog 12 is made rectangular to fit inthe pocket. In the particular dog that we have illustrated, the edge 39of the base 37 is provided by a pair of lugs that may be clearly seen inFigs. 1 and 9. This is merely to facilitate the formation of the dogfrom sheet metal, and of course the base 37 in effect is rectangularbecause of the arrangement of these lugs.

We believe that those skilled in the art will now understand theextremely novel construction that we have contributed in tubular locks,and that the operation and advantages of this construction will be fullyappreciated.

We now claim:

1. In a lock of the class described, a bolt retractor movabletransversely of said lock, a dog having a base lying in a seatingposition with one side against said bolt retractor, a spring holdingsaid dog with its base seated against the retractor and yielding toenable the dog to move relatively to the retractor away from seatingposition, a detent lug on said dog extending from that side of said baseopposite the seated side of said base in an angular direction, a pushpiece moving transversely of said bolt retractor between locking andunlocking positions and spring pressed toward unlocking position, a parton said push piece moving in contact with said detent lug as the pushpiece moves against the thrust of its spring from unlocking to lockingposition whereby to cam said dog angularly away from its seat with saiddog fulcrumming relatively to said retractor, said push piece part whenthus coacting with the detent lug contributing con siderable movement tosaid dog against the pressure of its spring to allow said push piecepart to pass by said detent lug, and said detent lug thereafter movingwith said dog behind said push piece part to dog said push piece inlocking position.

2. In a lock of the class described, a bolt retractor movabletransversely of the look, a dog lying in a seating position against saidbolt retractor, a spring pressing said dog in a particular direction forholding the dog in said seating position whereby the dog moves with theretractor, said spring yielding to enable the dog to move relatively tothe retractor away from seating position, a detent portion on said dog,a push piece moving transversely of said bolt retractor between lockingand unlocking positions, a spring pressing said push piece to unlockingposition, cam surfaces on the push piece and the detent portion of thedog through which the spring thrust of the push piece acts when the pushpiece is in locking position to exert a force in the direction of thespring pressure on the dog, the push piece thrust by exerting said forcepressing the dog toward seating position and into dogging relation tothe push piece with the dog then holding the push piece in lockingposition, and said dog acting through the said cam surfaces to move thepush piece against the thrust of its spring beyond locking position asthe dog moves out of dogging relation to the push piece.

3. In a lock of the class described, a bolt retractor movabletransversely of the lock, a dog lying in a seating position with oneside against said bolt retractor, a spring for holding the dog in saidseating position and yielding to enable the dog to move relatively tosaid retractor away from said seating position, a detent portion on saiddog extending from that side of the dog opposed to its seated side, apush piece moving transversely of said bolt retractor between lockingand unlocking positions, a spring pressing said push piece to unlockingposition, a part on said push piece applying the spring thrust of thepush piece to said detent portion when said push piece is in lockingposition for pressing the dog toward its seating position, and saiddetent portion then acting through said push piece part to hold the pushpiece in locking position 4. In a lock of the class described, a boltretractor movable transversely of the look, a dog having a base lying ina seating position against said bolt retractor, a spring for holding thedog with its base seated against the re tractor and yielding to enablethe dog to move relatively to the retractor away from said seatingposition, a detent portion on said dog, a push piece moving transverselyof said bolt retractor between locking and unlocking positions, a springpressing said push piece to unlocking position, said detent portioncoacting with a part of said push piece for dogging said push piece inlocking position when said push piece is pressed inwardly against itsspring to said locking position, and a part of said retractor insupporting relation to the detent portion of the dog at one side of itsbase whereby to accept independently of the base at least a part of thespring thrust of the push piece.

5. In a lock of the class described, a bolt retractor movabletransversely of the lock and having a pocket formed with an end surfaceand a side surface, a dog having a base lying in a seating positionagainst said end surface with one end of its base juxtaposed to saidside surface, a spring for holding the dog in its seating position, adetent portion on said dog also juxtaposed to said side surface of thepocket when the dog is in said seating position, a push piece movingtransversely of said bolt retractor between locking and unlockingpositions, a spring pressing said push piece to unlocking position, saiddetent portion of the dog acting against a part of said push piece fordogging said push piece in locking position when said push piece ispressed inwardly against its spring to said locking position, and thesaid side surface of the pocket by its juxtaposed relation to saiddetent accepting from the detent the spring thrust of the push piece andacting with said one end of the base to oppose tilting of the dog out ofdogging relation to the push piece.

6. in a lock of the class described, a bolt retractor movabletransversely of said lock, a push piece moving transversely of said boltretractor between locking and unlocking positions, spring meansyieldingly pressing said push piece to unlocking position, a dog, springmeans pressing the dog in a particular direction for holding the dog ina dogging position, means for moving said dog from dogging position, adetent portion on said dog engaging a part of the push piece to dog saidpush piece in looking position once said push piece reaches lockingposition, said push piece part then applying to the detent portion ofthe dog the spring thrust of the push piece, said detent portion formedwith a bearing surface through which the spring thrust of the push piecewhen so applied exerts a force in the same direction as do the springmeans that press the dog whereby to press the dog toward doggingposition, and said dog acting through said bearing surface to push saidpush piece beyond locking position when said dog moves away from doggingrelation to said push piece.

7. In a lock of the class described, a push piece moving between aninward locking and an outward unlocking position, a spring yieldinglypressing said push piece to unlocking position, a bolt retractor havinga pocket, a dog for said push piece in said retractor pocket, a springpressing said dog in a particular direction to a seated position in theretractor pocket for dogging said push piece in locking position, saidbolt retractor moving relatively to said push piece to move said dog torelease said push piece, cam parts on said push piece and dog throughwhich said push piece acts in turn when dogged in locking position bysaid dog to press the dog in the same direction as does the spring thatpresses the dog, and the push piece by so acting through the cam partsholding the dog seated in said pocket for preventing release of the pushpiece from looking position through vibration of the lock.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,796,727 Schlage Mar. 17, 1931 1,991,031 Schlage Feb. 12, 19352,008,405 Schlage July 16, 1935 2,038,907 Schlage Apr. 28, 1936

